


The Meetup

by TerrificallyTerri



Category: TOME: Terrain of Magical Expertise
Genre: Fluff, Gen, My First Work in This Fandom, Other, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-02
Updated: 2019-10-02
Packaged: 2020-11-22 05:43:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20869136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TerrificallyTerri/pseuds/TerrificallyTerri
Summary: The group finally get to collect their reward from beating the Netkings. They all agree to get together in front of Netking Software but it seems one of them is running a bit late.





	The Meetup

Meeting up with people was always a bit nerve-wracking, even if they’re people you’ve been talking to for the past three years. Goofing off with these people online is different though, you can hide behind a persona and pretend to be someone completely different. You don’t have to worry about them judging you since it’s never the real you but now it is…

Colin walked his attention on everything but the actual task at hand, he’s going to be seeing his friends for the first time and get an exclusive tour of the Netking Software building. To say that he was nervous was an understatement, he had debated not even showing up for a brief second but knew he couldn’t do that. Not after everything that this group has been through together…

He turned a corner coming to a halt, there it was - Netking Software. The building was intimidating; casting a shadow on the other buildings surrounding it. It made Colin hesitate, it all started right there. Colin couldn’t believe he had the opportunity to see the inside of it. It made him feel sick, the excitement mixing with the anxious feelings.

Movement caught his attention, coming out of the building was a tall brunette talking on his phone. He was wrapped up in a blue jacket that had the Netking logo on the front. With the way, he was waving his hands around it seemed whoever he was talking to on the phone was arguing with him. Colin began to move forward and the closer he got the clearer the voice became and soon he knew exactly who that man was. A smile found its way on his face when he saw the phone be put into the jacket pocket and the man slumped against the outer wall of the building. 

“Hmmmm, Squire?” The English man said as he slipped into the character of Nylocke. Leaning close to the other. The man caught off guard with the appearance of Colin nearly jumped out of his skin. He flinched back just barely keeping his balance as his heel hit the edge of the pavement. 

“Nylocke?” He asked in a bewildered voice staring at him. Colin gave a nod his smile only getting bigger as his dear friend straightened his jacket and crossed his arms with faux annoyance.

“Indeed! How are thou on this fine day Sir Kirbopher?”

“Dude you don’t need to put on the voice. There’s no need to use screen names” He said, “It’s Christopher.”

“Of course. It’s good to see you, Chris.” Colin said dropping The Voice. “It’s so weird seeing you and not the avatar. I don’t need to look down at you anymore.” Chris rolled his eyes shaking his head in annoyance though his smile clearly gave it away. 

“You’re telling me. I half expected you to be an actual dragon-man but your average jolly old British boy is alright too.” Chris joked as he leaned back against the wall. “Oh that reminds me, Stephanie called. She and Micheal are going to be a bit late, apparently, they got stuck in traffic.” Colin nodded in understanding, the traffic in this city is utterly ridiculous. “Have you seen G.C?” Chris finished looking back towards the English man. 

“I’m afraid not, we haven’t spoken since we all bought the tickets to come here. I messaged him this morning asking if he wanted to meet up and come together but no luck.” Colin said and slid down to sit by Chris’ feet. The two men began to talk about recent events, Chris going off about different projects he’s excited for. Colin listened feeling less and less nervous as the other man talked. All that came to a halt when the phone in Chris’ pocket buzzed and a quick look at the device was all it took to make Chris grin. 

“I’m afraid not,” Colin said with a sigh “We haven’t spoken to one another since we all bought the tickets to come out here. I attempted to message him this morning asking if he wanted to meet up and arrive together. That, however, was met with radio silence as well.” 

“I hope he’s alright.” Colin made a noise of agreement his thoughts running in all sorts of directions. If anything had happened to their shadowy friend he doesn’t know what he’d do.

“So do I…” He said softly. The two men fell into silence as they stood around. Colin eventually sat down onto the ground as they waited for their friends to show up. Ten minutes passed before Chris eventually got fed up with the silence and plopped down next to Colin to show him some pictures Micheal had sent him the day before. 

Several minutes later the phone goes off startling the duo. Colin watched Chris quickly answer it once they realize it was Micheal trying to get ahold of him. Chris stood up and took a few steps away to answer his phone, Colin following his suit. He watched the other man talk for a moment before Chris hung up.

“They’re on their way; should be right around the corner.” He said before crossing his arms and leaning against the wall, Colin raised an eyebrow giving the other a perplexed look. A beat later two voices reached his ears. Micheal and Stephanie were making their way over, hands locked together, their shoulders bumping against one another as they talked. When they got close enough Chris looked over a grin spreading across his face.

“Well, it’s about time.” Now it made sense, Colin thought.

“Sir Alpha and Lady Flamegirl! I am so happy you’ve decided to join us!” He cheerily called walking over to pull the two into a hug. Stephanie let out a laugh and wrapped her arms around him to return the hug, while Micheal had to gather his bearings not expecting the sudden contact.

“I can’t believe this is actually happening!” Micheal said taking a step back. Stephanie nodded in agreement her face lit up with excitement. 

“Indeed, now there is only Gamecrazed to wait for,” Colin said.

“He’s not here yet?” 

“He better get here soon, the tour is in two hours,” Chris explained.

“Gamecrazed hasn’t contacted you, Nye?” Stephannie asked her voice colored with surprise. Colin shook his head. This made the women frown with worry. Micheal put a hand on her shoulder.

“I’m sure he’s alright, probably just stuck in traffic like we were.” He gave them a reassuring smile. Colin hoped that was the situation, he didn’t want to think about anything bad happening to his friend. 

The conversation slowly turned towards the couple and how their trip was. Chris poking fun at Micheal for something dumb he did at the airport and Stephanie poking right back at Chris for something equally dumb. Colin laughed as he watched the trio interact and bicker. It almost helped him forget the lingering worry… Almost. Colin found himself looking up and down the street waiting for something to show that their friend was on his way but when an hour and a half passed and there was still no sign of Gamecrazed Colin could feel the icy grasp of disappointment in his chest. 

The group started to make their way over to the doors of Netking Software by the guidance of Chris. Micheal was halfway through an exciting ramble when a black vehicle pulled up to the curb. Colin got the attention of his friends and pointed to the car. They all held their breath when the backdoor opened, a tall dark-haired man stepped out slowly with the assistance of crutches. 

The man looked up and over towards them and Colin held his breath when his eyes met the others. Gamecrazed ducked his head and gave a surprisingly shy smile as he awkwardly made his way over. 

“I apologize for my late arrival.” He spoke, his voice was the same rough, deep tone Colin watched as the other nervously fidgeting and wouldn’t meet any of their eyes. “My hotel is farther than I would have liked, so I had to call for a ride and the traffic in this area is awful” 

“Tell us about it. Steph and I got stuck in a jam on our way over. I don’t know how Chris can live in a place like this.” Micheal said giving a startled laugh when Chris elbowed him. 

“We’re glad you could make it G.C,” Steph started ignoring the two other boys

“Nate.” He said quickly to correct her.

“Huh?” Micheal questioned a bit shocked at the volume their quiet friend used.

“My name is Nate. I realized on the ride over that I never told any of you my name, even when I was opening up more to you all and I apologize for that.” 

“My name is Nate.” He took a deep breath probably to recollect himself Colin guessed. “I realized during the ride that I never told you all my name even after I started to open up more… I apologize for that.”

“You don’t have to apologize for that Nate.” Colin said he pulled the shorter male into a hug gently squeezing him “Although you had all of us worried about you. Why didn’t you answer any of the messages I sent you?” Colin let him go and stepped back to watch as Nate, looked away. Nate let out a long sigh his shoulders hunching up as if he’s trying to make himself appear smaller. Colin can’t see how that could be possible though.

“It took a lot to come here today, I regret admitting I almost didn’t get on my plane yesterday.” Colin frowned at that. “You all mean so much to me, I was… terrified. I’m not what people expect and I honestly didn’t want to risk it but then I thought of how disappointed you might be if I didn’t show up.”

Colin wanted to step back up and wrap Nate up into another hug. Chris beat him to it though, the Burnett wrapped his arm around Nate’s shoulder and waved his other hand as if he was brushing away the doubts. 

“Nate we’ve been through some shit together. You’re stuck with us… We’re all going to sit down and have a talk about our feelings but right now let’s put our focus on having fun together, Alright?” Everyone gave a nod “Great. Now let’s go the Netkings are just as excited for this as we are.” He started to move forward taking careful steps so Nate could walk with his crutches, Colin and the others trailing after him. Micheal quickly falling back into his ramble from earlier. Colin let himself smile as the walked looking forward to spending more time with his friends.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! This is my first written work for this fandom and it was so much fun to write. Tome has a very special place in my heart and I wanted to finally be able to express that through my writing, I have plans to write a lot more and I'm open for requests so please feel free to send me prompts!


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